China takes control of Zim economy

via China takes control of Zim economy 03/11/2013  by Asahi.com

UNDER the iron grip of President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s economy lies in ruins with allegations of rampant human rights abuses.

Yet, the country once known as Africa’s “bread basket” is attracting Chinese firms in ever-growing numbers.

Western companies left Zimbabwe long ago, unable to tolerate the policies of the now 89-year-old Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980.

China is keen to exploit the country’s vast mineral resources and restore its ability to be a leading producer of crops.

Mugabe is no darling of the West. But his administration welcomes the growing Chinese interest, even though ordinary citizens are clearly wary.

The farming town of Chinhoyi is located roughly 100 kilometres northwest of Harare. Fields operated by local farmers flank the main road. The harvest is finished, the dry season has begun and the grass is withered and flattened.

Suddenly, a vast tract of verdant farmland comes into view. Countless automatic sprinklers shower the fields with water. The sight is reminiscent of the days when Zimbabwe was a model of agricultural ingenuity for the rest of Africa.

But it is the red flag of China that flies over this land these days. Smartly attired Chinese in suits come and go.

The land was a white-owned farm that was seized by the Mugabe administration. A Chinese company has operated it for around three years under a contract with the Zimbabwean government.

According to a manager there, the 5,000-hectare farm grows wheat, soybeans, tobacco and other crops that are harvested twice a year. There are plans to expand the farm to 8,000 hectares in the near future. The manager said 20 Chinese and 500 Zimbabweans work the farm.

In addition to direct management, Chinese companies are sprouting across the country, drawing up contracts with individual local farmers.

One top official has a contract with a Chinese company to sell agricultural produce from 200 hectares of formerly white-owned farmland now in his possession. His workers use fertilizer and pesticide provided at no cost by the company. He sells the harvested tobacco wholesale to the company.

“Chinese companies pay good money,” the official said. “Of course I welcome Japanese companies, too, but I wonder whether they’ll do anything for me that the Chinese don’t do already.”

 

COMMENTS

WORDPRESS: 39
  • comment-avatar
    Revenger-avenger 11 years ago

    productive farms plundered from white commercial farmers by idle zanu criminals who sold something they didn’t own to ” honorary ” indigenous yellow devils to loot. This is all soon gonna end in bloodshed I know for sure

    • comment-avatar
      Becca 11 years ago

      So sad, I left Zimbabwe after Independence and lived in London before going to the USA. The damage that the CHINESE do is irreparable. They are going to take all the worth back to BLOODY China!!Why are we letting these little yellow devils take over our economy. Did anyone not learn what happened to a Super Power like the USA??? DAMN PEOPLE…..get rid of them and the head of State too.

      • comment-avatar

        The Chinese have no regard whatsoever for the environment. They will spray their crops with anything who cares if it is poison! There are no rules and regulations, just the way Zanu likes it!

    • comment-avatar

      Hauna Munda . Sorry chokwadi. We shared land and hapana zvamunoita. Makanzwa butter.

      • comment-avatar
        nesbert majoni 11 years ago

        Saka iwe uri munhu akaita sei asingadi kuona vanhu vese vachifara munyika yavo. Ko kuzvitonga kwacho kuri papi. Kana uchiti makanzwa butter uri kuda kuedza kuti chi. You must grow up.

        • comment-avatar

          Vakati they do not want land ye jambanja now they want it but there is no more land to share Saka ndati vakanzwa butter vanhu ve MDC all four of them. (MDCT, MDCN MDC 99 MDCM)

  • comment-avatar
    gabarinocheka mugabe 11 years ago

    ma china hokoyo na bob . zvichaburana mbayi mbayi

  • comment-avatar
    Fallenz 11 years ago

    Old article, but applicable. If ZANUPF remains in power, China will own the entire Zim economy in 5 years. Strangely, that may improve the lot for Zimbabwe somewhat over what they have today with ZANUPF running the economy.

  • comment-avatar
    easily fooled 11 years ago

    Stranger than fiction

  • comment-avatar
    Lindy Forster 11 years ago

    No Hope.Africa is destroyed and will never ever recover in “A Thousand Years” and more.

  • comment-avatar
    Stay Well 11 years ago

    Lindy sounds frastreted, i am in ad position to shape my country now. Stop depending. Your mind can be your enemy.

  • comment-avatar
    kwelar 11 years ago

    It takes a fool not to see that our country is now a province of China.We only need it to be formalised and allow them to invest without fear.how about teaching Chinese in our Schools

    • comment-avatar

      Tibvirepo. Asi kuita e province of Britain. Makaroiwa here vanhu ve MDC -T . We would not have survived your sanctions if it was not for China. Please be objective

      • comment-avatar
        nesbert majoni 11 years ago

        Iwe unogara kunyika ipi nhai Musa Waunoda kubata kumeso nezvemasanctions ndiani. Zanu pf yakauraya nyika kudhara masanctions acho asati anbovapo. Ko handiti zvinhu zvakaitika tese tichiona here. Atlest nazuva emaBritish munyika maive nemutemo. Saka masanctions ndiwo futi arikuita kuti tigare munyika musina mutemo wekuti vanhu vagarisane zvakanaka. Unopenga chete.

      • comment-avatar
        Fallenz 11 years ago

        Musa, exactly what are these sanctions you speak of..? Please explain.

    • comment-avatar

      Its already happening. Grace has conveted to Chinese. The UZ was ordered to teach in Chinese. A whole wing has been created to accomodate Chinese teaching, displacing minority languages in Zimbabwe.

  • comment-avatar
    chimusoro 11 years ago

    It is no secret that the Chinese use human waste as a fertiliser in food production. Perhaps a blessing in disguise considering the demise of our sewerage system!

  • comment-avatar
    BossMyass 11 years ago

    A common form of political corruption is financial contributions for electioneering by wealthy citizens, multi-national companies or “friendly” countries. Here, even if the contributions may be legal and do not constitute a quid pro quo, they tend to destroy the confidence of the people because ordinary citizens see their leaders as unscrupulous people who are prepared to mortgage their country in order to remain in power.
    For example, in some developed countries quite often wealthy tycoons sponsor particular presidential candidates in order to protect their business interests. And in some African countries the incumbent ruling party uses state resources, such as money from the treasury, the civil service, police, army, and government vehicles to run its election campaign. It is also common that former colonial powers or multinational companies assist some preferred leaders financially or militarily or both so that they can get into or remain in power. This is done in the hope that the sponsors will be given preferential treatment to exploit the natural resources of the country.
    In recent times, political corruption has manifested itself in the form of electoral fraud. It has become so rampant that nearly every election held the world over is tainted with vote-rigging in the form of excluding some eligible voters from voting, manipulating the voter’s register or the counting system. With the availability of computer technology which can be used to manipulate data, it is possible to either increase or decrease the votes for the rival candidates so as to predetermine the outcome of the election results.
    Similarly, digital technology has now made it possible for a new type of political corruption -that of information hacking in which computer information, e-mails, telephone or mobile phone conversations are secretly obtained from someone who is perceived to be a political enemy or a friend who cannot be fully trusted. The recent mobile phone tapping of the German Chancellor, the French and Brazilian Presidents by the USA is a typical example of how illegal information gathering occurs on a grand scale.
    In countries where there are despotic regimes, the bugging of ordinary citizens’ conversations, political opponents and other people who are considered to be a ‘security risk’ is omnipresent. Ordinary people are always looking over the shoulder to see who is eaves-dropping. The result is that there is unbridled fear of the ‘Big Brother’ who is constantly watching you. This alienates the intelligentsia such as judges, lawyers, teachers, students, trade unionists, journalists, parliamentarians, business people and others who find it difficult to perform their duties freely.
    To illustrate what I am saying, I want you to ask yourself these basic questions: “Do I suspect that my mobile calls have been secretly listened to by authorities”? “Do I feel that my computer information may have been pried into”? “Am I sure that no one is surreptitiously monitoring my private affairs”? If you suspect that your activities may have been clandestinely observed, then you probably understand the danger to which many people are exposed as a result of their living in societies where human rights are constantly violated by those in power who fear their own people.
    An even more serious form of political corruption is ‘patronage’, which refers to favouring political supporters as opposed to the inclusion of members of the opposition. Where this occurs, the ruling party appoints top officials to its administration, such as permanent and deputy secretaries, mayors, judges, university vice chancellors, directors and so on from its own supporters. Quite often, the officials are selected not on merit but for their loyalty and as a way of rewarding them for supporting the regime.
    Patronage may also come about in different forms, such as appointing people to influential positions from a particular group of people, class, tribe or gender. For example, in many Arab countries it depends on whether you are a Sunni or Shiite and generally women are excluded from holding public office. In Europe and North America it depends on the class to which you belong, such as the bourgeois, middle or working class. And in many African, Asian and South American countries where parliamentary democracy is relatively young, patronage takes the form of favouring the tribe, race or caste from which the ruling party draws its support base. The end result of this form of corruption is that the government is blotted with officials who are not necessarily competent but are officials whose trump card is their tribal or social grouping rather than their ability.
    Political corruption can also take the form of ‘nepotism’, which is the favouring of relatives for certain positions in government or for awarding big tenders. I want you to do a simple audit of the number of people that you know who occupy senior positions because they are related to someone high up in the government. Also think about the tenders that are awarded to people who are well connected.

  • comment-avatar

    Hatidi ma essays pano. What’s your point?

    • comment-avatar
      BossMyass 11 years ago

      Exactly what I wrote.

      • comment-avatar
        BECCA 11 years ago

        BOSS…What a name to start with. You call China FRIENDLY??? What an idiot. I don’t even live in Zimbabwe and I can see the damage the YELLOW PRICKS are doing to the country. Why do you think Americans don’t want them. Who is brain washing you asshole?? BOSS YOUR F…ASS!!

  • comment-avatar
    Michael 11 years ago

    Boss
    What utter trash you have scribed, the babbling verbal diarrhea of an inadequate mentality. Game over……

    • comment-avatar
      BossMyass 11 years ago

      Simply don’t read the truth if you don’t like it.

      • comment-avatar
        BossMyass 11 years ago

        The Chinese laid out a strategy of tying land rights in the perimeter of urban areas to card-carrying membership in Mugabe’s ruling party, according to an intelligence agency document. “[A]bsolute neutralization of the enemy is recommended when necessary,” the document noted. “Hostile votes will lead to loss of land entitlement.”

        According to the CIO documents, Mugabe’s benefactors in the Chinese Communist Party also provided and installed short wave jammers to disrupt “enemy radio stations domiciled in hostile areas” and updated old jamming equipment, particularly for use in rural areas. Traditional leaders in rural areas were seen as allies. Insiders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that deals were cut with traditional leaders to facilitate “assisted” voting.

        The Chinese strategy called for security forces to deploy thousands of armed young men “ward by ward,” one document said. In addition to the army–kept on standby–over 35,000 youth were trained and deployed to areas expected to vote against the president. Youth, one intelligence organization document stated, must be armed with “assault rifles to aid mobilization and stem resistance,” coordinated by provincial leaders. The documents show deployment of youth to specific provinces under military leaders described as provincial coordinators.

  • comment-avatar
    Shumba Liverpool 11 years ago

    Hahaha Musa wandisetsa!

  • comment-avatar
    Fallenz 11 years ago

    Welcome to China-West. You wanted it, you got it. Congratulations… you lose.

  • comment-avatar
    Jogo Bonita 11 years ago

    The name must now be changed to Chimbabwe…

  • comment-avatar
    Gangara 11 years ago

    BossMyass, u’re getting crazy with your imported language. Taura nerurimi rwamai vako straight to the point kwete zvekurova imbwa wakaviga mupinyu. Wakadzidza kupi…..? I question your eligibility….kuita off topic. Uri kuda kuti udza here kuti une kageneral understanding keEnglish neLaw. Unotinyadzisa mhani……anyways. Pamberi neZANU.

    • comment-avatar
      BossMyass 11 years ago

      EVERYONE IS EXCITED WITH OUR MANIFESTO. START LEARNING CHINESE……………

  • comment-avatar
    Chivulamapoti 11 years ago

    BossMyAss, you tal too much and it’s what your Chink comrades love on their lands and sandwiches – feces!

  • comment-avatar
    Chivulamapoti 11 years ago

    BossMyAss you talk to much and it’s what your Chink comrades love for their lands – excrement! About sanctions, they are only on Mugarbage, Dis=grace and their enablers! Not on Zimbabwe, so the ZingZongs didn’t help anyone under sanctions except the Commander in Chief for Muggery himself!

  • comment-avatar
    dviad 11 years ago

    Kwete hutukana, do not say bad at each other China and the west are equal they all want gains

  • comment-avatar
    chaporonga 11 years ago

    Cry the beloved Zimbabwe!! Zviri kuitwa ne Zanu hutsinye chaiwo they now give our country and our women to Chinese!! Dai Mwari vatiitira nyasha tatambura, we have lost all hope of moving out of this Zanu grip!!

    Kunwa weti muHarare!! Aaaaa! No mhani!! Vanhu ava vanonzi Zanu havanyari!!

    Madofo emakoko anotengesa MAI nekuda sadza!! Matuzvi chaiwo!!

  • comment-avatar
    Dharma Appavoo 11 years ago

    It matters nought whether the exploitation is by “White Rhodesians” or by yellow Chinese businessmen or Black Neighbours.

    Avarice is Colour Blind…. and it is integral to Human Nature.

    So suck it up.
    OR
    Be sensible and Contract with the Hutterites who will deal
    with Zimbabweans in an UP-FRONT manner.

  • comment-avatar
    William Doctor 11 years ago

    Anyone notice that there are less stray dogs in Zim these days? Remember all those semi-wild dogs that would be on the roads in the rural areas? – say goodbye to the poor mutts, they’ll be gone soon.

  • comment-avatar
    truth 11 years ago

    it shall come to an end,everything has an ending,zim will shine again, time will tell….jus saying

  • comment-avatar
    Dharma Appavoo 11 years ago

    There is no motivational difference when Foreigners travel to Zimbabwe.
    They come to exploit.

    So do not make Deals with Offshore nations.

    Make deals with the Hutterites.
    They are an independant group who have mastered the art of Food Production.
    And they will enter into a straight-forward and simple Contract without demanding permanent residency.

    They require two Sessions each of about One Month for Seeding and then for Harvesting.

    They will teach the local youth how to produce food without polluting the water supply.

    One Hundred Years ago they were religiously persecuted and escaped from Germany to North America.

    They are now the most prodigious producers of Grains, Milk, FRESH vegetables, Milk, Beef, Pork, Chickens, Eggs, Potatoes. foods.
    They are more than 2000 Hutterite Colonies, in North America.

    If Zimbabwe is farmed by the Hutterites there will be a glut of High Quality foods. And the youngsters will be taught the Tricks of the Trade.